The Altar Stone is a recumbent central megalith at Stonehenge in England, dating to Stonehenge phase 3i, around 2600 BCE. It is identified as Stone 80 in scholarly articles.
The Altar Stone lying flat at left
Its name probably comes from a comment by Inigo Jones who wrote:
‘... whether it might be an Altar or no I leave to the judgment of others’.[1]
Composition, origin, and situationedit
The Altar Stone is made of a purplish-green micaceous sandstone and is thought to have originated from outcrops of the Senni Beds formation of the Old Red Sandstone in Wales, though this has not been fully established.[2][3]
Stone 55 (a sarsen megalith) lies on top of Stone 80 (Altar Stone) perpendicularly, and is thought to have fallen across it. The Altar Stone weighs approximately six tons and (if it ever was upright) would have stood nearly two metres tall. Some believe that it always was recumbent[4] It is sometimes classed as a bluestone, because it does not have a local provenance.
Stone 80 was most recently excavated in the 1950s, but no written records of the excavation survive, and there are no samples available for examination that are established as having come from the monolith.
Referencesedit
^North, John (10 September 2007). Stonehenge. Simon and Schuster. p. 424. ISBN978-1416576464. Retrieved 4 August 2014 – via Google Books.
^Ixer, R. A.; Turner, P. (2006). "A detailed re-examination of the petrography of the Altar Stone and other non-sarsen sandstones from Stonehenge as a guide to their provenance" (PDF). Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine (abstract). Vol. 99. pp. 1–9.
^Ixer, Rob; Turner, Peter; Molyneux, Stewart; Bevins, Richard (2017). "The petrography, geological age and distribution of the Lower Palaeozoic Sandstone debitage from the Stonehenge Landscape". Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine (full text). Vol. 110. pp. 1–16 – via academia.edu.
^John, Brian (27 April 2018). The Stonehenge Bluestones. Greencroft Books. p. 172. ISBN978-0905559-94-0.
altar, stone, stonehenge, altar, stone, recumbent, central, megalith, stonehenge, england, dating, stonehenge, phase, around, 2600, identified, stone, scholarly, articles, altar, stone, lying, flat, leftits, name, probably, comes, from, comment, inigo, jones, . The Altar Stone is a recumbent central megalith at Stonehenge in England dating to Stonehenge phase 3i around 2600 BCE It is identified as Stone 80 in scholarly articles The Altar Stone lying flat at leftIts name probably comes from a comment by Inigo Jones who wrote whether it might be an Altar or no I leave to the judgment of others 1 Composition origin and situation editThe Altar Stone is made of a purplish green micaceous sandstone and is thought to have originated from outcrops of the Senni Beds formation of the Old Red Sandstone in Wales though this has not been fully established 2 3 Stone 55 a sarsen megalith lies on top of Stone 80 Altar Stone perpendicularly and is thought to have fallen across it The Altar Stone weighs approximately six tons and if it ever was upright would have stood nearly two metres tall Some believe that it always was recumbent 4 It is sometimes classed as a bluestone because it does not have a local provenance Stone 80 was most recently excavated in the 1950s but no written records of the excavation survive and there are no samples available for examination that are established as having come from the monolith References edit North John 10 September 2007 Stonehenge Simon and Schuster p 424 ISBN 978 1416576464 Retrieved 4 August 2014 via Google Books Ixer R A Turner P 2006 A detailed re examination of the petrography of the Altar Stone and other non sarsen sandstones from Stonehenge as a guide to their provenance PDF Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine abstract Vol 99 pp 1 9 Ixer Rob Turner Peter Molyneux Stewart Bevins Richard 2017 The petrography geological age and distribution of the Lower Palaeozoic Sandstone debitage from the Stonehenge Landscape Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine full text Vol 110 pp 1 16 via academia edu John Brian 27 April 2018 The Stonehenge Bluestones Greencroft Books p 172 ISBN 978 0905559 94 0 51 10 44 N 1 49 34 W 51 17882 N 1 82623 W 51 17882 1 82623 This article about a Wiltshire building or structure is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Altar Stone Stonehenge amp oldid 1205020259, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
